The invention is related to the field of optomechanical systems and nanomanufacturing, and in particular to symmetric thermocentric flexures with minimal yaw error motion.
Distortion-free fixturing of optical flats is critical to many micro/nano manufacturing applications. Optical flats are used, for example, as a rigid backing for stamps or polymer parts in microcontact printing and nano-imprint lithography. Other uses are in programmable small-scale gap applications, such as those involving stamping of DNA patterns assembled on one optical flat to another flat positioned in close proximity.
Optical flats are made usually from fused silica or quartz, which have a coefficient of thermal expansion on the order of 0:5 ppm/K. The surface finish for the flats is marked by Ra roughness values on the order of 1 nm, and deviations from surface planarity are typically limited to about 30 nm or less. A mismatch in the thermal coefficients of expansion of such flats and the rest of the supporting structure (made usually from metal) may result in surface distortions and warping, and hence, poor pattern replication from the stamp to the part.